In a closely watched trademark infringement case, the Supreme Court of the United States held that when an alleged infringer uses a trademark as a source identifier for the infringer's own products, the First Amendment does...more
6/19/2023
/ Dilution ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jack Daniels Properties Inc v VIP Products LLC ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Rogers Test ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademarks
In Short -
The Background: The Supreme Court reviewed a Second Circuit decision holding that the Andy Warhol Foundation had impermissibly licensed a portrait of musician Prince that was created by Andy Warhol but based on...more
The Supreme Court holds that the Copyright Act's safe harbor provision preserves the validity of a copyright registration notwithstanding an inaccuracy in the underlying application based on a good-faith mistake—regardless of...more
U.S. Supreme Court holds that Google's use of a small fraction of Oracle's Java SE API code for its Android platform is a fair use under copyright law.
On April 5, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ended a more than 10-year...more
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil Group, Inc., Case No. 18-1233, that a plaintiff in a trademark infringement suit is not required to show willfulness to recover a defendant's profits...more
5/1/2020
/ § 1125(a) ,
§ 1125(c) ,
Appeals ,
Burden of Proof ,
Charge-Filing Preconditions ,
Compensatory Awards ,
Dilution ,
Lanham Act ,
Lost Profits ,
Remand ,
Remedies ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Vacated ,
Willful Infringement
Asian rock band The Slants is no longer "The Band Who Must Not Be Named," as they titled their most recent album. On June 19, 2017, the United States Supreme Court decided Matal v. Tam, striking a provision of the Lanham Act,...more
6/24/2017
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Football ,
Free Speech ,
Government Speech Doctrine ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
Music Industry ,
NFL ,
Popular ,
Redskins ,
SCOTUS ,
The Slants ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Viewpoint Discrimination